Becoming Who You Really Are

God's love and life are expressed by you in a way that they have never been expressed before.

Creation would be a less rich expression of God's beauty and complexity were one person missing -- were you missing.

Each one of us is an image of God. Each of us is a unique expression of God's life, beauty, and intelligence, his creativity and tenderness, his energy and imagination.

We affect the quality of our expression of God by how we live our lives.

If we ignore God, we deprive ourselves of the strength that he is willing to give us to overcome our weak and selfish tendencies. We are trying to go it alone, and we're not very good at that.

If we ignore God, there will always be a tension inside of us because we were made to have a living, loving relationship with God. Something in us suspects this, even if we resist believing it.

Knowing and being known by God can be a frightening thought. After all, in that relationship we know who has the power, and we know which one of us will be right in every disagreement.

Acknowledging the reality of God puts us in our place, and we believe that diminishes us. Instead, it restores us to the quite noble position God has given us in the universe: his adopted children.

We think, mistakenly, that acknowledging the reality of God will make us less important. But we are the beloved of God; we humans are his prize creations. He treasures us, honors us by giving us the freedom to choose to go against him. Being loved and honored by the creator of all that is, the source of every good thing, is the highest honor there could be for us.

When we recognize the one God of all that is, acknowledging who he is -- the source of every good that has ever been-- we are recognizing nothing less than the truth, the truth about God, about his creation, and about ourselves. Life begins to make more sense.

As we order ourselves toward God and his ways, we become more integrated, less at odds with ourselves, more truly and fully human.

As we place ourselves humbly before God we find the freedom to be ourselves as we were intended to be. He enhances and helps us develop the best in us. He heals our broken and damaged parts as we hand them over to him.

God created each one of us to be a unique expression of Himself. He has no interest in diminishing our individuality. He created us each as unique individuals. God loves variety; just look at nature.

When we try to separate ourselves from God, from the source of our uniqueness, we separate ourselves from that which is deepest in us. My innermost self is made in the image of God. My innermost self thrives in the presence of my creator.

We can only know ourselves to the extent that we are willing to be in relationship with God. On our own, we continue to do things we wish we hadn't and wonder why we're less than we know we could be.